Stone

• Title: Stone
• IMDB: link

Odds are you missed Stone in theaters. And, sadly, odds are you’re going to want to pass it up on DVD and Blu-ray as well.

The film focuses on retiring parole officer Jack Mabry (Robert De Niro) and one of his last assignments – an incarcerated arsonist named Stone (Edward Norton). What follows is a twisted tale of Jack being seduced by Stone’s wife (Milla Jovovich) in order to help facilitate his release.

Stone is a bit of a mess. It has its moments, including a strong opening which sets up the personality of De Niro’s character, and several interesting pieces, but the script by Angus MacLachlan never puts the whole story together in an engaging or believable way.

The most troubling aspect is that the movie can never quite decide how smart the title character is supposed to be. At times (even in scenes alone with his wife) he seems just dimwitted and desperate enough to offer up his wife to Mabry in this last ditch effort at early release.

However, at other points in the film he seems much more manipulative and far more in control of the situation. Just as troubling is how much of Lucetta’s (Jovovich) antics we’re supposed to take at face value. If the actress doesn’t seem to know how much of the role is a con and how much is real, how are we to decide for ourselves?

Neither the DVD nor Blu-ray adds anything new to add other than the trailer and a short behind the scenes featurette in terms of extras. There’s simply not enough here to recommend. Unless you happen to come across it late one night with nothing better to do, I’d leave this Stone unturned.